Question 1

Does this have an external power supply or is power from the usbport itself?

Accepted Answer

It's powered by BUS, and may require two USB connections to do this. There is no external power supply.

Question 2

Will this work on a Mac? I would prefer someone answer who has actually used it on a Mac--conjectures don't help. Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Yes, this works on a Mac. I use this drive for video editing on my Retina MPB and it works flawlessly. I get about 210 MB/s write speed on this drive which is great as I work directly off this drive with Adobe Premiere.

Question 3

Does it require any special downloads to work with MAC or to switch between MAC and PC computers?

Accepted Answer

Hello Betty P, unfortunately I am unable to answer your question, since I do not use a MAC.  I bought this drive to use with a PC and it works fine with the PC - no special downloads required. I used it with both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0.  The USB 2.0 requires connection with the special cable shipped with the drive and you need to connect to two (2) USB 2.0 ports - one for power and the other as the data port. I have used it with multiple PCs - just plug in and it works. I put in a USB 3.0 Card in one of my PC that did not have USB 3.0 ports built in.  The drive works just fine with this upgrade, using just the USB 3.0 cable shipped with the device. Sorry I could not be of more help.

Question 4

Can you turn off and delete any/all software that comes on the drive and simply reformat it as an empty external HDD? I want something to store my digital movies on and plug into friends tv when I go see them.

Accepted Answer

You can do what I did and put all of the software already on it into a folder and set that folder as hidden. It doesnt need any of it to run, so it does just become an external HDD at that point. I didn't delete it for simple paranoia of messing something up. But the hidden folder takes up practically no space.

Question 5

can you store applications and run them remotely?

Accepted Answer

Yes if is an .exe file.  I  think you can load a program to it and run but I Personally have not tried that.  It is a fantastic drive and by far the best external drive I have ever had.

Question 6

Is this a good hard drive to use as an external hdd for the Xbox One? Getting very low on space on the internal hdd and trying to find a good one that is compatible with it.

Accepted Answer

I am not familiar with the compatibility required for an Xbox One but this is an excellent Hard drive for PC Storage.  We have purchased several of these and we have never had a problem with them.  I would certainly recommend them to anyone shopping for an External Hard drive.

Question 7

Is this backwards compatible with USB 2.0?

Accepted Answer

I am not very gizmotic, so please take that into consideration with my answer. I can plug this new device into the USB ports on my 7-year-old (now nonfunctioning) tower. I believe that this has the older USB 2.0 ports. I can also plug it into the USB ports on my brand new HP tower. I hope this helps. If not, I would be happy to try to respond to a follow-up question.

I have only done one backup, so far, and it did seem to load MUCH faster than my older backup hard drive. It also lets you manage/name your folders/types of data very flexibly. I chose to copy one "topic" (ex: Documents, Pictures) at a time, so I had more control. When I ran a "backup everything" on my old hard drive, the hard drive decided where things should go and I was very annoyed at not being able to retrieve items in the manner in which I wished them organized. It would put pictures that I wanted kept in Documents in a Pictures folder. It also would not find items when I tried a key word search/retrieval. I have not yet tested that on the new hard drive.

Question 8

Can the same drive be used to back up both Windows and Mac Computers?

Accepted Answer

I don't use it as a backup drive, but it does work just fine with both my Windows and Mac machines. I have no reason to believe it wouldn't work as a backup for either OS.

Question 9

Is there a case for it?

Accepted Answer

I dont believe there was a case. In either case (no pun intended) both of these that I bought are fantastic and glitch free over a year later.

Question 10

Is this HD backwards compatible with USB 2.0?

Accepted Answer

Yes they all are.

Brand	Seagate
Series	Backup Plus Fast
Model	STDA4000100

Color	Black
Interface	USB 3.0
Capacity	4TB

Features	High-speed backup for your digital life on your computer, mobile devices and the cloud The Seagate Backup Plus Fast portable drive offers up to 2x the capacity and performance compared to other 2.5-inch portable drives. The metal design protects 4TB of storage, so you can carry your movie, music and photo collection wherever you go. The drive also optimizes the speed of the fast USB 3.0 interface with transfer speeds up to 220MB/s - giving you the ability to quickly transfer files, and work on graphic or video projects directly from the drive. The drive is fully USB powered and does not require an external power supply - allowing you to carry as many videos, songs and photos as in a 3.5-inch drive in this compact portable drive. Install the NTFS driver for Mac, and you can use the drive interchangeably between Windows and Mac computers without having to reformat. Via the Seagate Dashboard software, you are provided with tools for local, mobile, cloud and social media backup. Run a one-click backup or schedule an automatic backup plan to protect your files in your Backup Plus Fast portable drive at your convenience. Install the free Seagate Mobile Backup app on an iOS or Android mobile device to back up all of the pictures and videos from the device to your external drive or the cloud.
System Requirements	Mac OS X 10.7 or higher or Windows 8, Windows 7 operating system SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port (required for USB 3.0 transfer speeds or backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports at USB 2.0 transfer speeds) Seagate Mobile Backup app system requirements: iOS 7 or higher, Android 2.3 or higher

Dimensions	0.88" x 3.25" x 4.60"
Weight	0.68 lb.

Seagate Backup Plus Fast 4TB High-Performance Portable External Drive USB 3.0 - STDA4000100

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Item#: N82E16822178449